Why have I been barked at?

I bark when I see a district using curriculum that isn’t aligned to the education standards in its state.

See below for the difference between standards and curriculum.

If you have been barked at, it’s because you are using weak, non-aligned curriculum. You don’t have to take my word on it about the curriculum being bad. I’m a dog. Two organizations have reviewed curriculum for standards-alignment and quality (details below) – with teams of trained educators doing the reviews – and they have given your curriculum a poor rating. Yet you are still using it to teach children.

I bark because there are mounds of evidence saying that curriculum has a huge impact student learning… like the research summarized in this article:

When I review all of this evidence, I can’t imagine how you are still using poor curriculum.

I bark because the parents in your district deserve to know that you have chosen something poor for their students.

I bark because the voters and taxpayers in your district deserve to consider this information, from a stewardship perspective.

If I give you the benefit of the doubt: Maybe you didn’t know that you had weak curriculum, and that there are far better options (see below on how to find them).

Now that you know better: please do better.

A Note on Curriculum Reviews

EdReports is a nonprofit that organizes and trains teams of teachers to do reviews versus the standards. It is considered the ‘Good Housekeeping’ of curriculum reviews by curriculum leaders nationwide.

The state of Louisiana also conducted similar reviews using teams of trained educators. The outcomes tend to be consistent with EdReports.

They are great resources. Use them to understand the flaws in your current curriculum. Then use them again to find something better.

A Note on Standards vs Curriculum

If you’re not an educator, you might not understand how standards and curriculum are different. Here’s an explanation:

Standards are the learning goals for what kids should know and be able to do at each grade. Curriculum is the stuff used in classrooms (lesson materials, plans for teachers, content read by kids) in order to achieve those standards. So they are related, but very different.

I think of it like fuel efficiency standards. The government sets a standard – for example, vehicles must get 34 miles per gallon (MPG). Auto makers can design cars with any number of variations… in the materials used, car design, number of cupholders… as long as they achieve that MPG target. Therefore, there are many new models to choose from each year for consumers, the same way that there are many curriculum options available to districts. The only difference is, automakers aren’t permitted to sell cars that miss MPG targets. Publishers can – and unfortunately do – keep selling bad curriculum that doesn’t align to standard to our school districts. District leaders need to make smart, careful decisions about the materials used to teach students, and not just believe the publisher sales pitches about the quality of materials.

In summary: your state set academic standards for all students. Your district had the discretion to choose any materials it wanted for student learning. And your district chose materials that don’t align to your state’s standards.